Chapter 199: The Trials

"EH!? REALLY!?" I heard Rize screaming as soon as we all woke up. We went into her room to check if she's fine but nothing seems to be out of place. "Ah... I'm sorry, the others are here. Contact me again later! Tell me EVERYTHING!"

"Uhh... Rize what was that?" I couldn't help but ask since the three of us rushed over here to see what's happening.

With a grin on her face, "Helga and Zeta just got married."

"I see... I thought something happened to you. Well dress u-..." The realization hits me. "What?"

"I'm jealous... Hey, sis," Feran interrupted and kneeled in front of me. "Will you marry me?"

"This is not the TIME FOR THAT!" A single roundhouse kick sent him flying out of the room. I ignored him and looked at Rize, "Really!? That's great news."

"I know! And... He didn't invite us!" Rize let out a sigh. "But it seems that they wanted to do that right now since the both of them couldn't wait any longer. But after all of this is over... they said they'll do a proper one."

"Good for them. It seems that their mission there is going great. I'm even more motivated now. Gear up Rize, it's time."

"Yeah. It's attempt number 32. I'll be there in a second."

All of us geared up and headed to the place where we're still trying to beat. The sky island trials. Seems like everyone is having trouble finishing this trial. It has been buffed.

The monsters are far stronger than before... Is what the locals say. Seems like each time someone beats the trial, the increased difficulty will take in place. That's why after 32 attempts... We still can't get past the third trial.

The roaring crows was heard throughout the arena and outside the arena. Their hyped up cheers were something to drown in.

We already made a name for ourselves since we nearly beat the third trial several times. But we still lost either way.

The adventurers around here, same with the civilians, we were all having a fun time knowing each other. This is a nice change of pace from the combat that we were all doing.

"Helga! I'm done!" Rize called out to me.

"Yeah, let's go." The four of us went to the sky island's trials and everytime we go there, we always see the same combatants over and over.

The announcer's giddy and upbeat expressions and tone always made the crowd lose their minds. "GOOOOOOOOD MORNING EVERYBODY! It's another time for the trials!!! Now, are the contestants ready!? Oh I'm sorry, that's a stupid question, I know everyone is ready. So, without furder ado! RELEASE THE HOUNDS!"

One thousand hellhounds began to spawn in the arena. Slowly overtaking everything. Right now Rize's law breaker should be a good use since it seals off anything. It's a powerful spell with a lot of drawbacks. So if she uses that, she'll just collapse within one use. So we don't want that happening.

So for now she's using her Hou Yi's bow to support us from behind. Her arrows were as strong as Yefa's punches. But it solely depends on her being far away from the enemies.

So we did just that.

"Force Field!" I can't use offensive spells and I can only use defensive magic. So using force to repel all the hellhounds that are rushing at us. Neco swooping in and killing them with his swift movement. Faster than our eyes could see. Ten hellhounds fell every second.

Rize's attacks managed to pierce every hellhound to the next one. "Chain Arrows, Chain Lightning, Combination Magic: Lightning Redirection!" A single arrow bounced off to the other one, and to the other one and to the other one. Spreading lightning magic everywhere, piercing through the hellhounds' defences and speed with ease. Killing them off in a single blast.

And there, the first trial was over. It's that easy.

The second trial ensues and luckily, we're all at the same team.

"Now!" Teral the announcer, pointed up in the sky. "Look at your objectives! Your winning conditions are listed there." A blue system-like message appeared in the sky. "Your faction will need to achieve at least one of these three winning conditions. One, kill all monsters and render the contenders on that faction unable to fight. No killing! Two, capture the enemy base at the very peak of their castle. For capturing the enemy base, you must defeat the commander and wear the crown inside the castle. The commander will have a crown on the top their head and the crown will be resting on the very top sitting on the throne. And finally, number three, destroy the entire castle! But be careful, it's reinforced with protection magic. So good luck!"

The monsters on both our side and the enemy's side were roaring and shouting as the monsters rushed in performing an all out war.

The mages on all of us began to shower the battlefield with their spells, blasting through everything.

This battle is scripted so if we just let the monsters fight each other, no one will win. It'll be a draw.

"Rally to Me!" I casted a spell on myself. "Neco, now!" Neco grabbed my waist and began to carry me like a sack filled with luggage.

"AH! NECO! HOLD HER TIGHTLY!" Stupid brother...

Rally to Me is a skill that leaves a movement speed trail for my party. It increases their overall speed inside. That means their attack speed and movement speed. And with Neco carrying me, I managed to cross most of the whole battlefield. Turning the field into our own playground.

Everyone was fast and nimble inside while the enemies were not.

Neco brought me down and faced the thousands of enemies rushing at him. He took a stance, he held his dagger in a backhanded hold and held it raised from his back. "Shadow's... BREATH!" In an instant, Neco disappeared and reappeared. A single straight line was cleared out from the enemy's army. Not a single speck of their bodies were left. A burning trail was there. But was it due to his speed? I don't know. But it was a frightening skill to see.

A judge came down and paused everything. The monsters stopped their tracks. "Lower your firepower. This is supposed to be a fun event. You will kill someone with that."

"I apologize." Neco apologized immediately.

"Good." The judge then pointed at ten people. "You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. The ten of you, out."

"Wha-" The ten of them tried to reason but the judge raised his hand.

"Stop." The light from the sky shone on the ten of them and revealed an invisible barrier. "If I hadn't put this up all of you would've been dead and mutilated by now."

"Urk..." The contestants backed off out of fear.

"You, I have been saying this before but you need to lower your firepower. This is your final warning. Absolute Disenchant: Weapon Damage LOW." Neco's weapon glowed then disappeared. "Soul weapon... I can't enchant that." The judge let out a sigh. "If you do this again, you'll be definitely banned from entering this place." The judge snapped his fingers and everyone were able to move. "Resume the game."

From there on, fighting the monsters were easy. The opposing team aren't really that strong. The monsters that we had to be aware of are the cyclops coming out and the other monsters like the banshee. But we made quick work of them with ease.

And finally the third trial... The most difficult to complete, the basilisks. These freaks have paralyze and mind control and I still don't have much resistance spells against that.

Well for the 33rd time we tried again to beat this monster... but... we lost. Completely lost. Once we looked them in the eyes, it was an instant lose.

I can now understand why Zieglind grouped the four of us. We were all the weakest points in the team. Rize will not use the law breaker in this stage since there's a dragon at the final stage that uses fire magic. If we disable the mind control magic, then we'll be fighting the dragon in full power which will be difficult.

I can understand it now. We're all still incredibly compared to the four of them... So Zieglind is telling us to get stronger huh...

We all went back to the inn exhausted, beaten up and incredibly frustrated. It has been two months yet we're still stuck on that stage. Makes me really question on how Zeta and Zieglind passed through these trials.

We ordered our food and drinks. It was silence. Everytime that we return.

Rize suddenly stood up and stomped her feet on the ground. "Tomorrow! We will try again!" Rize's words manage to uplift everyone. Even the whole inn were amazed by her. Seems like this journey of ours will take a longer time than I expected.